A few weeks ago, I filled in for my work counterpart. This resulted in a looooonnnnng day and, by lunchtime, I was ready for a break. Away from the building and my desk, somewhere that served good food. Saj Mediterranean Grill is a fairly new arrival to the neighborhood. It’s a toss up as to whether Mediterranean or Mexican food is my favorite (hummus or tacos?!) so I was looking forward to trying Saj out: when the opportunity came, I jumped at it.

The first thing I noticed is, Saj is busy. The line stretched almost to the door. A good sign when considering the quality of the food, not such a good sign when I’m on a clock and have an hour for lunch, including drive time. I took deep breaths and maintained my equilibrium. I’d take my food back with me if necessary. I spent my line time perusing the menu, reading about the meaning of “Saj”, and wondering if the garlic aioli could possibly be dairy free. The menu offers a wide array of if-not-vegan-easily-made-so options including wraps, salad, and pizzas. A sign on the wall told me “Saj” is the flatbread baked on a domed or flat griddle called a Saj, and the garlic aioli is made with mayo.

There is a handy chart at the register that lists the sauces and their ingredients. As neither the garlic aioli nor the tahini were dairy free, I decided on zaatar sauce. I’d also spent my time in the line watching food go in and out of the large oven, placed so you can watch everything that happens with your food. Saj’s website doesn’t lie: their ingredients are fresh. By the time I’d reached the register, I’d decided on a wrap made with the wheat saj (flat bread) and, once I’d decided on a sauce, filled my wrap with spicy hummus, basmati rice, falafel, kalamata olives (one of my favorite things), and sauteed peppers and onions.

When my wrap arrived, the flatbread reminded me a bit of a crepe. A little thicker but it did resemble a pancake rather than what I usually expected from flatbreads like pita or naan. It was a bit sweet as well, though that was a good contrast to the salty ingredients I’d chosen.

My wrap wasn’t too salty, although I love salt so perhaps any future orders should contain more fresh vegetables. I liked it though. The briny tang of the kalamata olives did overwhelm the other flavors but please don’t consider that a complaint: I appreciate that the staff didn’t skimp on the olives. There was something pickled as a garnishment: the menu has pickled turnips as an option but the peppery bite-reminiscent of horseradish-made me wonder if the garnish wasn’t pickled daikon. The staff was busy so I didn’t ask but cleaned my plate of everything, wrap and garnish. There were no leftovers to take back to work with me and I left the restaurant with ten minutes to spare. Since my drive back was five, I made it back to work in plenty of time!

I purchased a beverage. I usually don’t when I eat out as most commercial beverages contain too much sugar. I did for this visit, as a special treat, and was glad I had done so. I decided on an orange pomegranate San Pelligrino and the sweet/tart carbonation cut through the oil and salt of my meal. I could have shared with a friend: there was too much sugar for me to finish the beverage but I was glad to have it while eating. My entire meal came together to satisfy every section of my tastebuds and I’m looking forward to eating at Saj Mediterranean Grill again soon.

I’ve tried many new food items since becoming vegan: things I never thought I would eat much less like. Things like pressed fermented tofu and seed cake, though seven-grain tempeh sounds more appetizing; and then there are all the beans. My pre-vegan repertoire consisted of black beans, kidney beans, navy beans, and the occasional lentil. My post-vegan pantry has expanded to include all of those plus cranberry beans, anasazi beans, black, green, red, and black lentils, yellow and green split peas, Christmas lima beans, and so many more. Some of the tastiest and most versatile beans I use are garbanzo beans, aka chickpeas. They make excellent crispy snacks if marinated and oven-baked, star in chickenless salad, chickpea and noodle soup, and not-tuna salad.

My enthusiasm for new and interesting beans may have gone too far. I was at an Asian market (since become a diner so I need a new source for black salt) and was going nuts at the prices of bulk lentils, spices, black salt, and green garbanzo beans. The friend I was shopping with said, “um…green garbanzo beans?” “Yep”, I replied; “aren’t they cool?” My friend looked like ‘cool’ wasn’t the first word that occurred to her but she made no other protest and a bag of green garbanzo beans accompanied me home.

As summer takes over in Colorado I eat more salads and, at long last, the time came for me to soak and cook the green garbanzo beans in order to make not-tuna salad. I admit, a lessons I’ve learned from previous cooking experience sprang to mind as I prepared the beans. Lesson one: soup mixes comprised of multiple beans and/or grains look pretty until they’re cooked. Then, black beans or black rice color EVERYTHING else in the mix and the entire lot turns brown. What would cooked green beans look like? However, I’d purchased the beans and was committed. How bad could it be?

Well…cooked and mashed green garbanzo beans are no longer green. “Unappetizing” and other, stronger, words came to mind but I’m anything if not wasteful. I mashed my beans, stirred in Just Mayo, mustard, chopped green olives, chopped celery, and 1/4 a sheet of nori, snipped into teeny pieces. I was going to eat it no matter how it looked.

While the salad looked nasty; once I spooned it over a bed of red leaf lettuce and covered it with sliced Easter egg radishes, appearance was no longer an issue.

Taste was no issue at all. There is no substitute for soaking and cooking my own beans. Taste, texture, cost…there is no comparison, although I admit I use canned beans because they’re convenient. The beans in my salad were smooth and creamy, which bore no resemblance to actual tuna salad but, this far into my vegan diet; that isn’t a bad thing. The salad is filling, tasty, and easy to eat at my desk at work. And, the green garbanzo beans? I think that all future recipes will keep them whole rather than mashed.

I go to the grocery store with the best of intentions. I am enticed by the vivid colors of fresh, organic produce and always have a plan for what I buy. More often than not, those plans go by the wayside as I get busy with my job and working on my manuscript. Since I can’t bear the thought of all that lovely produce going to waste, my intricate plans become soup.

I like making soup. I rarely need a recipe for it and I can have dinner done in the time it takes vegetables to cook: often a half hour or less. My soups all start the same: sweat chopped onion in a stock pot, add garlic, add water or vegetable stock, add washed grains if I’m using them, add vegetables after grain has cooked, add canned or pre-cooked beans, heat through, eat. Tasty and simple. My last soup was created because I’d purchased some beautiful collard greens intending to make a lemon-chopped greens salad, didn’t get to it, and needed to use them up. Why soup? Well…

…I’m not that familiar with how to cook collard greens. I tried the Sicilian Collard Greens from Alicia Silverstone’s The Kind Diet when I first became vegan but overcooked the greens. The memory of the horrid bitter mass they became is still with me and I haven’t tried that recipe again. My sister likes collard greens but, as she cooks hers with bacon fat, that recipe isn’t an option for me. I perused my cookbooks and thought that a recipe for collard greens, wild rice, and black-eyed pea soup from Robin Robertson’s 1000 Vegan Recipes sounded good. I had to adapt it as I had rice and greens and very little of the other ingredients but that’s what I love about making soups: you don’t need to follow a recipe. Throw everything in a pot and it’s very difficult to go wrong. I made notes of replacements I could make with what I had on hand and read my new recipe out to my family. They entered it into their Weight Watcher’s App and, finding the total point value satisfactory, dinner was planned.

Robin Robertson’s cookbook was one of the first I purchased when making the switch to a vegan lifestyle. I figured I’d have all I needed with 1,000 recipes and have found this cookbook to be eminently useful. The best tip is to either steam or simmer tempeh for 30 minutes before using it in a recipe as doing so takes out that bitter aftertaste. I also appreciate these recipes are more of a guideline. I’ve made some recipes while adhering to every jot and tittle but some don’t include enough herbs and spices for my liking. I thought as much with this soup recipe and added a few of my favorites. Most spices are free on my family’s diet plan so I can indulge my inner mad kitchen scientist.

My version of the soup was excellent. The entire kitchen was filled with mouth-watering scents as the soup cooked and I adjusted the original recipe so everything was cooked in one pot. This is a great idea if all the soup is going to be consumed in one sitting, not so much if you’re planning on leftovers. I’ve found that greens left in soup overnight take on an unappetizing smell. This happened to my delicious soup and I was reminded that I’d made this observation once already. Hopefully, now that I’ve twice been left with no leftovers (something that annoys me), I’ll remember to cook only the amount of greens that can be consumed in one sitting. If my greens are in such bad shape they won’t last while I heat leftovers, the freezer is always a viable option.

Nasty leftover greens aside, I can’t say enough good things about this soup. It satisfies both senses of taste and smell, is soothing to the tummy, and-when paired with a slice of molasses cornbread-makes for a filling meal. The cornbread is made from one of my mother’s recipes and I’m sharing it with her permission. Since my recipe breaks enough from Ms. Robertson’s; I’m sharing it as well. Two recipes in one post!

Place the chopped onion in a stock pot over medium low heat and let cook 5 minutes. Add minced garlic and let cook until onions are translucent, about 2 minutes more. Add a small bit of vegetable broth if onions and garlic begin to stick.

Note: Only chop all the greens and add them to the soup of all of the soup is going to be consumed in one sitting. If not, chop the equivalent of one large frond per person and cook in a separate pot of boiling, salted water until collards are tender. This takes about 20 minutes. Drain the collards and divide them among the bowls when the soup is complete. Stir and enjoy.

I checked my archives and couldn’t find when/if I’d ever posted about Red Robin. It’s not a place I eat at a great deal but I remember it was one of the first eateries I visited soon after making the switch to veganism. I remember researching what options were vegan and I remember utilizing a build-your-own burger option. I checked Red Robin’s website and couldn’t find it but I did choose what I wanted veggie burger, bun, and condiment-wise, printed it, and handed it to the waitress. If I remember correctly, Red Robin’s veggie burger isn’t bad.

I re-visited Red Robin last week. It was a gorgeous day and my step-father had a gift card so, after a walk at the reservoir, off we went. I was already primed for a veggie burger and fries when I noticed a new option in the appetizer section of Red Robin’s menu. My local Red Robin was offering guacamole, salsa, and tortilla chips. Burger forgotten, I placed my order.

There are not words to express how much I enjoy guacamole. When paired with salsa and crispy, salty, tortilla chips? I’m willing to walk the reservoir a second time, if necessary. It probably was necessary because the waitress told me the guacamole was bottomless. Yep, she said bottomless and I did find it necessary to eat a second helping. In order to feel good about my level of protein, I ordered a side dish of the southwestern black beans to accompany my guacamole goodness and tucked in.

This was delicious. There wasn’t room in either dish to mix the guacamole, salsa, and beans together so I’d take a bite of one and then the other. I had plenty of chips: one order covered two helpings of the guac and one of the beans.

Guacamole is, perhaps, difficult to get wrong, but Red Robin doesn’t miss the mark. It wasn’t too salty and neither were the tortilla chips which meant the entire meal didn’t overwhelm. The salsa and guacamole come in the same ramekin topped with jalapeno slices which aren’t too hot. I would have said they could have used a touch more heat but my family was chortling at me as I began to turn red so, apparently, the meal was spicy enough. I enjoyed it and it’s nice having a non-burger option at what is definitely a burger joint.

I can’t find the guacamole, salsa, and chips on Red Robin’s online menu so this option might be location specific. Going to Red Robin? I found this handy guide online.

My blogging is finally paying off. I was recently awarded a free entrée at Fire Bowl Cafe. Of course, anyone following Fire Bowl Cafe’s Twitter or Facebook accounts were entitled to the same free entrée but, hey, free is free and a girl can dream.

Fire Bowl was promoting its new Lemongrass Green Bean Stir Fry entrée and all I had to do to claim mine was show the Direct Message I received via Twitter to my location’s manager. Well, I don’t have a smart phone so figuring out how to show the message was a bit difficult. I finally printed the photo but couldn’t figure out how to get the verbiage so took my black and white photo (I printed it at work) to the restaurant in hopes that mentioning it did indeed come from my Twitter account would be enough. If not, I’m partial to the Thai Red Curry so the trip wasn’t going to be a total loss. Fortunately, the manager knew what promotion I was talking about and I got my free entrée. I may still upgrade my obsolete tech but the need is not yet pressing.

I ordered my stir fry with the fried tofu and added an order of the Soft Thai Summer Rolls because they’re delicious and you can have extra peanut dipping sauce of you ask. Then, lunch and dinner in hand, (I get enough food for two meals) I headed home. I was ravenous by the time I walked through my front door so divided my meal neatly in half and tucked in.

And now, to answer Fire Bowl Cafe’s question. Did I like it? Answer, yes. I don’t know if it will take the place of the red curry but I did like it. I knew I was going to when I popped the lid off the to-go container and inhaled.

The flavors blended well. I sometimes find meals made with lemongrass a bit bitter but not this entrée: no one flavor overpowered another. The dish was also perfect spicy, for me anyway. I like hot food but not when the spice makes it impossible to taste anything else, or too painful to eat at all. The level of spice in this dish added a pleasant tingle to the tongue while still allowing me to taste the sauce.

The green beans were a bit odd at first. I tend to cook mine softer at home and these reminded me of asparagus in texture not taste. After a few bites, I found I liked the crunch in what was otherwise a soft meal: tofu and rice. Would I eat it again? Well yes but, again, if I’m heading out there and paying for a meal, I prefer the red curry. Would I recommend it? Absolutely. As a vegan, I wouldn’t eat it with the chicken or beef so can’t contrast those for you but try the tofu: the manager said the dish was the best with the tofu and I found no reason to disagree.

Not only was my entrée free but the to-go container came in handy. The box for my old colored pencils was beginning to disintegrate and I couldn’t find anything at home to re-purpose. After a good scrub, the to-go container for my Lemongrass Green Bean Stir Fry was perfect. Thanks, Fire Bowl Cafe!

I follow blogger Shared Skillet and find her recipes useful as I too am living in a “mixed” family in that I am the sole vegan amidst omnivores who don’t mind eating strictly vegan meals a surprising amount of the time but who are not interested in giving up meat, eggs, and cheese. In January, a recipe for Smoked Spinach and Artichoke dip was posted on Shared Skillet’s blog and I read the recipe as just that: smoked spinach and artichoke dip.

How does one smoke spinach? I wondered. Does the spinach get crispy like when making kale chips? Wouldn’t that be a weird texture? Would the spinach stay crispy once the other ingredients were added? Didn’t I read somewhere that spinach is referred to as ditch weed? Ha Ha. Smoked weed. Especially apropos as I live in Colorado. And that, my friends, is how a blog post title is born.

In answer to my most pressing question, no; spinach is not synonymous with ditch weed. According to Wikipedia, wild spinach is wild spinach and feral cannabis is ditch weed. In answer to all my other questions, I found it helpful to actually read the recipe. It isn’t the spinach that’s smoked: “smoked” refers to the type of cashew cheese used.

I recently found myself with artichokes I needed to use and remembered the recipe. I had enough ingredients on hand that, while I didn’t exactly follow the recipe, I didn’t make any weird substitutions. The only big substitution I made was Heidi Ho brand smoked chia cheese for the Miyoko’s Kitchen High Sierra Rustic Alpine cheese because Heidi Ho was on sale and Miyoko’s Kitchen wasn’t. I used a package of frozen spinach instead of fresh and my artichokes were jarred rather than canned. No worries: I borrowed my parents’ food scale and weighed out 14 oz of artichokes.

The recipe calls for olive oil and I don’t use oil to cook so I wasn’t vigorous when squeezing the water out of the defrosted spinach in hopes it wouldn’t stick when cooking. The little bit of water and medium low heat was all I needed.

I wish I could say leaving out the olive oil makes this dip a healthy treat but it doesn’t. A cup of vegan mayo and the entire package of chia cheese made this dip as rich and creamy as any I ever ordered as an appetizer in my pre-vegan days. I admit that, while it was cooking, I wondered if it was something I was going to be interested in eating…

Hmmm…doesn’t look very delicieux

…but then the smells hit me and I started salivating. When all the ingredients had heated through I could hardly wait to spoon some into a dish and set to. The recipe suggests eating the dip with crusty bread which I would have done if I hadn’t eaten the bread I had with spaghetti earlier in the week. I did have some Tres Madres purple corn chips-non GMO thank you very much-which I figured would do just as well.

I was not disappointed. The dip is rich, creamy, and I could taste both the sweet and smoky flavor of the paprika. My version might be a bit too smoky with the cheese I used as well as including a full cup of nutritional yeast. I probably could have used a bit less nutritional yeast as the smoked flavor of this dip did hit me in the back of the throat. I don’t mind strong flavors though and now my only question is; how am I going to avoid eating the entire pan by myself?

I have friends and family that are interested in my vegan lifestyle but I invariably hear; “I could never go vegan-I could never give up cheese”. I understand. Cheese was an important part of my life before becoming a vegan. The sharper the Cheddar the better, Stilton; Gouda, Gruyére, Brie…yes, I did eat a great deal of cheese.

I haven’t missed cheese; not with brands like Daiya, Follow Your Heart, and Chao slices by Field Roast taking care of most of my needs. There is no denying the texture is not the same and, excepting Daiya’s Gouda style farmhouse block, I haven’t found a vegan cheese substitute I like sliced and eaten with crackers. Cheese and crackers along with grapes or a sliced apple is one of my favorite simple snacks and one I was willing to drop the cheese portion if I had to. And yet, I couldn’t help holding out hope that I’d find a cheese substitute I’d find tasty with a cracker.

It turns out, I don’t have to give up my snack. My local King Soopers has a vegan/vegetarian section that carries some Tofurky and Field Roast products, some Tofu, some cheese options, and something new. I found Treeline brand cheese: a non-dairy product made from cashews. King Soopers carries the Chipotle Serrano Pepper, Scallion, and Herb-Garlic flavors. I’m always willing to try something new and, hoping it would prove delicious, I purchased a carton of the Scallion and took it home.

I was not disappointed. Treeline’s product is smooth, creamy, and spreads easily onto a cracker so there’s no worry of breakage. The flavor is pleasant as well. Despite being made with cashews it doesn’t take at all like cashews. Treeline isn’t heavy on the spice either. I liked the Scallion so much that, when I was ready for another treat, I purchased the Herb-Garlic and didn’t find the flavor too strong. I am looking forward to trying other vegan substitutes as they come to hand, especially that made by Miyoko’s Kitchen, but I am thrilled to have access to Treeline. Now, I only have to find a place that offers the other flavors.

My favorite cracker for cheese and crackers indulgence used to be Triscuit crackers. Unfortunately, despite releasing new and interesting flavors-including a pumpkin spice-Nabisco has not sought 3rd party non-GMO verification for their Triscuit crackers. Fortunately, Back to Nature makes a Harvest Whole Wheat Cracker that tastes exactly like a Triscuit but sports the non-GMO butterfly. My snack life is saved!

I don’t mind purchasing a product like Treeline as an occasional treat but there’s no denying it’s a bit expensive so I’m scouring my cookbooks for recipes I can try at home. A few make-at-home cheese recipes will be ideal for the Holiday Season. Have a favorite? Let me know. I’m always up for cheese and crackers and perhaps a little wine.

I am not speaking of how wonderful an Aunt I am, though I am fantastic. The “Great”, in this case, speaks of age. My niece has had a baby. Since some cuddling of the newborn was in order, my family and I headed out on another road trip. We were leaving after I got off work, so dinner along the interstate was going to be a necessity.

Nebraska is undeniably beef country. There is no shortage of places where one can get a steak or hamburger. Fortunately for the traveling vegan, Nebraska also has several Asian and Mexican restaurants. My step-father doesn’t care for Asian food so a Mexican restaurant was the only option. My mother and I logged on to Trip Advisor and set to searching for an eatery in the Ogallala, NE area. For this road trip, we decided on Mi Ranchito.

The restaurant is about what you’d expect regarding vegan option. There are vegetarian fajitas, a guacamole tostada, and bean burritos. The menu has a little green ‘v’ next to the bean burrito which indicates a vegetarian choice but I don’t know if that means the beans are made without lard. The burrito does come with cheese and the photo on the menu shows the side beans covered with cheese. Fortunately, the helpful staff is willing to leave the cheese off. Same with any sour cream.

The only complaint I have about my meal is how salty I found the rice. I can’t say whether or not the rice was inordinately salty or if my focusing on raw foods in my daily diet has made me more sensitive to the salt content in prepared food. I couldn’t eat it. I have no complaints about the bean burrito itself. It was filling, tasty, and void of dairy products.

I have no complaints about the staff. Everyone was friendly and willing to make changes for me. I didn’t have to specifically ask for the cheese to be left off the side of beans. I asked for “no cheese” and no cheese was what I got: both in the burrito on for the side. The chips were free, crispy, and not too salty and served to scoop up my side of beans. My water glass was always full.

If you find yourself driving down I80 in Nebraska, you’re feeling peckish and in need of a vegan meal, try Mi Ranchito. You can’t miss it. Just look for the glowing cactus.

I recently had to go out of town for an overnight visit and my destination was a small town in Colorado I was certain wouldn’t be vegan friendly. I checked out restaurants in the area and neither the Asian or Mexican food place had very high reviews. As my only other options were steak and burgers, I put together a survival kit.

This kit was a little different as I knew I would have access to an oven. This opened up the survival kit to include a frozen Daiya brand pizza. I knew I could keep it frozen in a cooler until time to cook it and purchasing the pizza meant I wouldn’t be spending money at a restaurant. The pizza was on sale so it cost me about 6 bucks: I’ve never been able to put a vegan meal together for that while eating out. I also included my french press: something I don’t travel with very often. I figured odds of it getting broken during an overnight stay were fairly slim and I knew I would need excellent, fresh coffee in the morning. A little chocolate almond milk as coffee creamer and I’d be ready to go.

While the french press isn’t a staple in my survival kits, my electric kettle is. I think it was Sassy at Vegan Coach who first suggested getting one but I don’t remember for certain. Whoever it was, it was a genius idea. A traveling kettle lets me make tea, oatmeal, and soup. Instant oatmeal and containers of soup are integral parts of my survival kits. I like Dr. McDougall’s brand: just add water and dinner is instant! I didn’t bring instant oatmeal with me this time. I had access to a refrigerator as well as an oven so made some overnight oats with oatmeal, chia seeds, dates, cinnamon, and almond milk. Give it a mix, stick it in the fridge and breakfast is ready the next morning. I included some pecans and figured my protein needs were covered. Almost.

I never travel without packets of peanut butter. Justin’s is one of my go to brands but Wild Friends make some fun combinations and aren’t too expensive. I’d used all my Wild Friends peanut butter from my last road trip but Justin’s saved the day. I popped two packets into my carry on in case I needed a protein boost. I also included a scoop of my Amazing Meal Chocolate Meal Replacement and a container of rice milk so I’d have a smoothie the next day just in case. Just in case what? Who knows what can happen in the wilds of Colorado?

I admit it: I may over plan.

I finished off my survival kit with two cookies from the Alternative Baking Company: an oatmeal raisin and lemon poppy seed. These are fabulous vegan cookies and they travel very well. I could think of several more things I should take with me; again, just in case, but only had so much space in my carry-on. I decided my survival was assured and quit packing.

Sure enough, I didn’t need half of what I packed but I like to be prepared for any eventuality. I’m certain that, next time, I won’t pack half so much. 😉

Like this:

My family and I rescued a baby rabbit the other day. He got stuck in our basement window well and was too little to jump back out. I realized I knew very little about rabbits. At what age are they left to fend for themselves? If we had to rescue the rabbit by touching him, would his mother reject him? Was his mother going to come for him? I didn’t know but we couldn’t leave him there. My mother and stepfather couldn’t figure out how to pop the basement window out of its frame and we weren’t sure crawling under the porch was going to be feasible. My stepfather remembered the grate covering the well at porch height lifted off so he headed out and I followed to help. I tried to climb down inside the well and discovered I suffer from claustrophobia. So, how to rescue the bunny without turning into a quivering lump? My stepfather suggested putting our long handled shovel into the well and seeing if the rabbit would climb on. I was skeptical: no doubt the shovel would scare him. How would we get him on it-and keep him on it-long enough to lift him out without hurting him?

Imagine my surprise when the rabbit gave the shovel a sniff and climbed right on. He stayed perched on until I’d lifted him out of the well and he could hop off under our deck to cheers from my mother. I swear that rabbit knew we were trying to help him and REALLY wanted out of the window well. Anthropomorphism aside, the rabbits actions denoted an intelligence and understanding that surprised me a little and then got me thinking about why I became a vegan.

My reasons were two-fold. One, I was terrified arthritis was going to put me in a wheelchair and I wanted to avoid that at all costs. I’d read that the vegan/plant-based diet cured all sorts of ills and I was desperate enough to change my lifestyle. At the same time, I experienced a crisis of conscience. The thought of eating specific animals horrified me. Why them and not others? Was intelligence the basis for my choosing to eat some animals and not others? I checked The Kind Diet out of the library, even told my mother I was just curious and was NOT looking to become a vegan, and then became a vegan.

I confess better health was my driving force. I was conflicted about animals and didn’t want to contribute to their suffering but had a long way to go before I could say with all honesty “I’m Vegan for the Animals”. And then, I didn’t want to say “I’m Vegan for the Animals” because, as I studied up on nutrition and how to stay healthy on the vegan diet, I ran into authors who had the attitude that those who chose a vegan lifestyle for health were somehow less ‘vegan’ than those that did so for the animals. I admit I can be a little too “my good opinion once lost is lost forever” (Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen) but that attitude upset me so much I still won’t buy those authors’ cookbooks and I’ve been vegan for close to five years.

Fortunately, I encountered far more kind and supportive vegans than I did rude and obnoxious ones and my health has thanked me for it. The improvement in my health did clear the way for me to consider how I thought of the other living beings that inhabited this planet with me; not just animals. Now I can say; “I’m vegan for my health, for others’ health, for the health of this planet I live on, for other humans, and yes; for the animals”.

The longer I study, the more reasons I have for the lifestyle I’ve chosen and that’s just it; it’s my lifestyle and my reasons: I would never consider myself superior to anyone else just because I’ve made changes they can’t-or won’t-make themselves. My choices are mine alone and, again, I want to send my thanks out to all the vegans and non-vegans alike who supported me, freely answered my questions, and let me make such choices for myself. I strive to be so kind.

The rabbit is being camera-shy so, instead, here’s a sampling of my cookbook collection. I use all sorts of things to bookmark recipes…